Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa calls for international help

COLOMBO (News 1t); Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday (26) called for the international community to help the island nation overcome its current economic crisis.

President Rajapaksa said that it is very important that solutions to the current national crisis be implemented within the framework of democracy.

The President was addressing Nikkei's Future of Asia conference, held in Tokyo and online.

"We have appointed a new prime minister and a cabinet of ministers with representation from multiple political parties," Rajapaksa said. "And we are fostering ongoing discussions in parliament toward forming a national consensus on the way forward."

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said that inflation has risen due to COVID-19 pandemic, which has crippled the tourism industry, reduced remittances from expatriate workers, created a severe financial crisis and other factors combined with the debt burden.

The President stated that the assistance of friendly nations was urgently needed to ensure that the requirements of essential medicines, food supplies and fuel were met.

The President also emphasized the need to increase cooperation among nations to ensure that problems are overcome.